


Two Birds, One Stepping Stone

by vld_ml_atla



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:53:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26921686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vld_ml_atla/pseuds/vld_ml_atla
Summary: At the one year anniversary of Allura's sacrifice, Pidge worries about the future of the team. Kidgetober 2020 Day 9: Bonfire.
Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	Two Birds, One Stepping Stone

Keith watched the light from the flames flicker across the side of Pidge's face. He had followed her when she'd wandered away from the bonfire where the rest of the team was laughing as Hunk told a story about Allura, but he hadn't worked up the nerve to approach her yet. Instead he decided to watch and savor this moment of silence while he could.

But she turned to look at him as if she'd known he was there the entire time and he froze. He'd been caught staring, but it was the look in her eyes that scared him more than whatever embarrassment that surfaced. It was so warm—from the fire or from the company—and yet so haunted.

"Promise me," she started, and then swallowed whatever she was about to say.

"What?" he asked, stepping forward to lean against the rail beside her. It overlooked the gardens surrounding Allura's statue, and the flowers were stunning, but his eyes were glued on her. "Promise you what?"

She moved her eyes up at the sky where the lions had disappeared less than an hour ago. Luckily she'd had the foresight to bring alternative transportation back to Earth; she must have known what would happen, and Keith could do more than imagine what that burden felt like. The memory of feeling Red disconnect from him would plague him for the rest of his life.

"Promise me this isn't the end." Her voice was so quiet that he almost didn't hear her over the crackling of the fire and the sound of Lance running his mouth off. "I know that Voltron is gone and everyone is going to go their own ways and do their own things, but I don't want us to drift apart. Just"—she locked desperate eyes with him—"promise me we'll stay in touch."

He smiled easily. There was no thinking about this. "I promise."

"But how can you?" she asked, throwing her arms in the air. "You just told us your idea to restore the Galra Empire and start a coalition and it's a good idea, yeah, but it's also a lot of work and you'll be really busy with it and I'll never get to see you." She paused in her rant, shifting uncomfortably and shaking her head. "I mean, we'll never get to see you." With the weight of their separate futures on her shoulders, she sighed and sank against the railing. "You're good at what you do, Keith, and you're going to be good at this too, but I know what that means for...the team, and I don't want to see us ripped apart because Voltron isn't here to keep us together anymore." She closed her eyes and gripped the railing until the skin on her knuckles turned white. "I didn't just find my father and brother in space. I found a whole new family and I can't lose any more of you. You know what happens when I lose people."

He chuckled. "Yeah. You run off into space to find them and end up becoming part of an intergalactic war and saving a lot of universes."

Despite her previous melancholy, she smiled with him. "That didn't have much to do with me."

He shook his head and turned to face her. "I think you're wrong. Who else could have piloted Green? But you're right," he said before she could answer. "Things are going to change now that Voltron is gone, but that doesn't mean everything has to change. There's no reason we can't stay in touch. In fact, I'll do you one better."

She arched a challenging eyebrow at him. "How so?"

He stuck his hand into his pocket where his phone was, but kept it there, suddenly nervous. "Call me anytime. Day or night." He met her eyes. "On Earth or whatever planet I'm on." He wasn't used to this much vulnerability, and even though he was getting better at it, he still pulled his eyes away when she seemed to draw it out of him. And as if he could make his next words seem more indifferent than they felt, he shrugged. "I'll always answer."

With his head ducked, he didn't see her coming until she already had her arms wrapped around him in a hug so tight he could barely breathe. "Video calls too?" He couldn't see the elation on her face, but definitely heard it in her voice.

He tried to laugh, but with so little air, it was only an exhale. "Of course."

She pulled back, her smile as wide as the moon, but much more brilliant. "And you'll come visit, right?"

His heart swelled in his chest. He'd spent his whole life feeling left out, abandoned, unwanted. But there was no doubt in his mind when she smiled that he belonged, that she wouldn't ever leave him—that she would always want him right there by her side.

"Just tell me when and where," he said, "and I'll be there." And it was the truth. Nothing would ever stop him from coming back to her. " You couldn't keep me away. I promise."

She wasn't the only one who had found a family in the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus:
> 
> Pidge jumped, her mind whirling with a million possibilities, but none of them stayed long. The only consistent thought was of Keith. "We could even invite the others!" she suggested. "You know, make it a party."
> 
> "No," he said a little too quickly and she fell back to the ground, but the shy look in his eyes had her soaring higher than ever. "I, uh, hate parties."
> 
> She smiled even though she hadn't gotten the answer she was looking for. "Right." It might have been too much to ask for two moments of vulnerability in one night, but she didn't mind waiting; she would drag it out of him eventually. "Then...just us."
> 
> When he smiled, it was the confirmation she needed that the wait would be worth it. "Just us."


End file.
